Mini has just renamed the wheel design of its first-ever all-electric production model, the Mini Cooper SE. The wheel spoke design in question is the cool and quirky option which was called ‘Corona Spoke’. While the name was envisioned at a time long before the coronavirus became a pandemic gripping the world by the throat, Mini has decided to disassociate itself from the virus by changing the name of the wheel design.
Reports suggest that the optional 17-inch wheel design is been changed to ‘Power Spoke’. However, the Mini UK website configurator mentions the name of the wheel design simply as ‘Electric Spoke’. The Mini Cooper SE is the first all-electric Mini to be in series production by the brand. It is driven by an electric motor that produces 181hp and draws power from a 32.6kWh battery pack placed under the floor. Like any other Mini before and currently available, the Mini Cooper SE or Electric offers a long list of customisable options. Mini offers some funky combinations that one can opt for with the all-electric model. One of the most striking pieces of the design was the 17-inch optional alloy-wheel bespoke to the electric model that offered improved aerodynamics, but also looked quite quirky.
However, it is not the first time a carmaker was forced to change the name of a product or accessory. Tata Motors who had earlier marketed its hatchback called the “Zica” had switched the name of the model to what we now know as the Tiago. The name Zica was initially coined by Tata motors claiming it was a combination of the phrase “Zippy Car”. But the name was changed as it was phonetically similar to the growing fears of the Zika virus crisis at the time.
What is interesting is that Japanese carmaker, Toyota has had a model called the Toyota Corona. The Toyota Corona was a compact sedan model that started life in 1957. Toyota has long since stopped making the Corona with the name being discontinued in 2001 after a long life consisting of ten-generations. We hope the coronavirus pandemic won’t last that long of course.